Day in Photos: May 23, 2011

A toy tiger that sparked a major operation involving armed officers and a force helicopter. Police scrambled helicopters and ordered tranquilizers to hunt what they feared was an escaped wild animal in southern England, but found that the tiger was a toy. Hampshire Police say they responded after several residents called in to say they’d seen a white tiger in a field near a golf course in Hedge End, near the English coastal city of Southampton.

AP Photo

The moon appears near Earth’s horizon in this photograph of an orbital moonset taken from aboard the International Space Station.

REUTERS

North Korean workers nap on piles of fertilizer shipped from China on the banks of Yalu River near the North Korean town of Sinuiju, opposite the Chinese border city of Dandong.

REUTERS

The sun comes up behind damaged trees after a large tornado hit the town of Joplin, Missouri. The tornado caused damage to a large portion of the town and the city’s hospital and school.

EPA

A series of images shows strong winds catching the hair of First Lady Michelle Obama as she arrives at Dublin airport, in Dublin, Ireland. U.S. President Barack Obama opened a four-nation tour of Europe on Monday in Ireland where he will explore his Irish roots in a town that was home to his great-great-great grandfather.

REUTERS

Mohammad Alishan, a performer from India’s eastern state of Jharkhand, performs a stunt as he drives a car on the walls of a “Well of Death” at a fair in Srinagar. The performers earn their livelihood by performing daredevil stunts by driving their bikes and cars on the walls of the “Well of Death” and attract a large number of spectators from all walks of life.

REUTERS

France’s Finance and Economy Minister Christine Lagarde speaks to journalists during a G20 Globalization conference in Paris, France. The Netherlands has thrown its support behind Lagarde as the next head of the International Monetary Fund.

AP Photo

A NASA MODIS satellite image shows the plume casting shadow to the west, from the Grimsvotn volcano, under the Vatnajokull glacier in southeast Iceland. Ash from a massive plume of smoke from an eruption of Iceland’s most active volcano could spread south to parts of Europe next week, but experts on Sunday still hoped the impact on air travel would be limited. The eruption at Grimsvotn has so far hit only Iceland, which closed its international airspace.

REUTERS

A man carries a young girl who was rescued after being trapped with her mother in their home after a tornado hit Joplin, Mo. on Sunday evening. The tornado tore a path a mile wide and four miles long destroying homes and businesses.

AP Photo

A woman and a child sit by a window at their house in Nyaung Tone, southwest of Yangon, Myanmar.

AP Photo

The ash plume seen at sunrise from the eruption in the central highlands of Iceland. These dramatic aerial pictures show ash spewing 12 miles into the air from the largest volcanic eruption in Iceland in 100 years. The Grimsvotn eruption started on Saturday and the brown ash cloud is expected to reach the UK this week. This latest eruption is ten times more powerful than the Eyjafjallajökull eruption but because the ash is not as fine it is hoped UKL air traffic will not be affected.

Barcroft Media

Four of the five Somali pirates arrested on charges of hijacking a South Korean freighter attend their trial at a court in Busan southeast of Seou. South Korean prosecutors indicted the five Somali pirates captured alive during a January 21 Navy commando operation in the Arabian Sea on charges of maritime piracy, accusing one of them of shooting the South Korean captain. The operation killed eight other pirates and rescued all 21 crew members, though the 58-year-old skipper, Seok Hae-kyun, was shot several times during the gun battle.

REUTERS

A crew member falls from the side of a U.S. military helicopter before the arrival of President Barack Obama at Dublin airport.

REUTERS

Officials stand near a damaged aircraft at the PNS Mehran base, after troops ended operations against militants, in Karachi. Troops recaptured the Pakistani naval air force base on Monday after a 16-hour battle with as few as six Taliban gunmen who had launched their brazen attack to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden.

REUTERS

Space shuttle Endeavour astronaut Andrew Feustel inside the hatch of the Qwest airlock during the first spacewalk of the STS-134 mission.

REUTERS

Taj Mohammad an Afghan believed to be a suspected suicide attacker, is escorted to speak to the media during a press conference in Kabul, Afghanistan. Mohammad was arrested recently by Afghan Intelligence members in Baghlan province, north of Kabul, where he was supposed to commit a suicide attack.

AP Photo

A field of poppies blossom in the Oderbruch region Mallnow, Germany. The history of the Oderbruch goes back about 250 years. In 1765 Frederick the Great arranged the drainage of the flood area around the Oder river to use the fertile ground.

EPA

The Floating Island is lit up on Han River in Seoul. The world’s largest artificial “floating island,” housing three inter-connected cultural centers on Seoul’s Han River, was unveiled to the public in the latest addition to the city’s multi-billion dollar makeover. Thousands of people turned out for the partial opening of the trendy 219,584 square-foot development, which was privately funded at a cost of about $88 million. It is scheduled for completion in September.

REUTERS

Women, mostly members of feminist groups, hold placards reading “Sexism: it all goes loose” as they stage a demonstration against the political and media reaction to the sexual assault allegations against former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn in Paris. Around 500 people turned out in Paris on Sunday for a protest by feminist groups against a wave of sexist commentary generated by Strauss-Kahn’s arrest. Strauss-Kahn, who had been favorite to win next year’s French presidential election, was accused of sexual assault, kidnapping and attempted rape in New York last week after an alleged assault on a hotel maid.

AFP/Getty Images

President Barack Obama drinks a pint of Guinness stout at the Ollie Hayes pub in Moneygall, Ireland. Obama sipped beer and cuddled babies on Monday as the tiny Irish village welcomed home “a long-lost cousin” with an outpouring of affection.
VIDEO: Obama Enjoys a Guinness on Visit to Ireland